Deandre Stewart charged in accidental shooting of teammate during Athens basketball tourney

Deandre Stewart has been charged with felony possession of a weapon on school property in connection with the June 5 accidental shooting of Teverrius Jones at Cedar Shoals High School during a basketball camp tournament. It was indicated on arrest warrants that Stewart turned himself in at the Athens- Clarke County jail on Thursday, June 25.

According to an affidavit filed for the arrest warrant, Detective Jeff Clark of the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, stated that Stewart "knowingly and willingly possessed a 380 pistol inside of his bookbag while inside of the high school gym."

Stewart was also charged with the misdemeanor offenses of reckless conduct and underage possession of a firearm. One of Clark's affidavits further states that Stewart "did cause bodily harm to or endanger the bodily safety of Teverrius Jones by consciously disregarding a substantial and unjustifiable risk, which constituted a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would exercise, by bringing a firearm on school property and causing said firearm to discharge hitting the victim in the foot."

According to a report in the Athens Banner-Herald, Stewart told police that the gun went off when he grabbed the bookbag in the Cedar Shoals gym. The shot ricocheted off a metal step and struck Jones, a teammate, in the foot.

Stewart, 17, a standout Washington Wilkes Tiger athlete in both football and basketball, was participating in the Cedar Shoalssponsored tournament with the rest of his team when the shooting occurred. The Tigers were between games, in the stands, awaiting the start of their next game. A report of the incident appeared in the June 11 edition of this newspaper.

Due to the continuing investigation by Athens-Clarke County and a separate internal investigation, local officials did not comment on the incident or on how it might affect Stewart's future. Stewart, who was released on $1,000 bond for each of the three offenses, has been ordered to appear in the Magistrate Court of Athens-Clarke County on Tuesday, July 21, at 1:30 p.m.

Jones, the probable starting quarterback for the 2009 W-W Tigers, is recovering well from the injury and is expected to be at 100 percent for the beginning of football season in August.